More Happy Christmas

This weekend was a champagne filled blur. The always interesting, gorgeous, hilarious C.F. was visiting London from NYC. On Friday we met up with her and J.S. and had drinks at the Kensington Wine Room, which is full of great wine and cute French waiters (awesome). We ended up at J.S.’s house after dinner for our first visit to Shephard’s Bush, and Jason’s kick-ass apartment. It is so nice it makes our place look like a craphole (well it really is a craphole actually). J.S. told us of his struggle to get a work visa for the UK, and we generously offered to house-watch his really nice place until it is all straightened out should he get deported or held at customs. We are so generous.

Looking good people.

This is right before we got kicked out.

Saturday involved much sleeping in and A CHRISTMAS SING ALONG at Royal Albert Hall - poor poor Dave. This is a hot event that sells out really quickly. I bought tickets weeks ago. They have an orchestra and choir and we all filled Royal Albert Hall to the brim with singing. After a bit of complaining, even Dave admitted it was really fun and Christmas-spirity. Next year I am dressing up in a Christmas sweater or light-up Christmas frock, like most of the other folks there.

See, he is having fun.

   

Post-concert we mostly just relaxed in anticipation of the evening’s festivities: A Christmas/housewarming party at J&M’s house. J&M are two friends that we met in London, I think at a bar or something. He is a local and she is originally from Connecticut but has been living in London for like 6 years. They are a whole lot of fun, as are their friends – all of whom were made more fun with the several bottles of champers we brought over as a gift. Sorry no pictures, I figured taking pictures of people that I just met "for my blog" would be a bit much. Is it funny that Londoners think ALL Americans have a blog. I suppose this means they think we are all self-obsessed douchebags, wait......I suppose we are.

We leave for Austria on Friday and I am stoked to SKI with J.V. and A.V. The town of St. Anton (where we are headed) has gotten dumped on, whereas Tahoe is bone dry this year - we got very lucky. I just hope we can make the drive through the snow and figure out where we are getting our rental skis and such; all the while utilizing my crap German. Wish us luck!

In a note of sadness, the Witty was hospitalized this week. My poor baby escaped out of the yard and wandered through the neighborhood eating poo, garbage, food, whatever he could find (shocking). He must have gotten into something really bad, because he super-barfed all over Dave’s sister’s deck. He apparently was shaking and really lethargic, so they took him to the hospital. He stayed overnight and had to get an IV, see that little bandage in the pictures. Apparently our niece and nephew were as relieved as I was that he is OK and will live to eat more trash and vomit another day.

Po-po Witty with his IV bandage.

Happy Christmas!

Last night the lovely R.C. invited me over for a Christmas ladies dinner at her house.. Here closest friends were also there, and they are all lovely. We had “jacket potatoes” (very British) with chili, and three kinds of desserts! I brought some Rice Crispy squares (very American) and chocolate crinkle cookies. Nothing makes you feel that all is right with the world than laughing around a table for hours with friends. It reminded me of my beloved book club, which I miss terribly. I was so honored to be invited and enjoyed every minute of the looooong, cold night – at least until I walked out the door at midnight to ride my bike home and it was raining…...dammit.

The evening out was especially appreciated because I work from home. I wouldn’t say that I get a TON of social interaction on a daily basis, though I have no one to blame for that except myself. You take those small conversations and jokes around the office for granted. I didn’t realize how busy our Bay Area social life was and how much our friends there are our family, with all the regular weekend activities and holiday events. I try my best with the running club and meeting people at the pool and such. I also schedule the guided tours of attractions (almost always free anyway), so that I don’t become a total social retard. But it is in my general nature to be a loner. I seek solitude, like Amelie in the movie. So I am generally OK with it, but I know it isn’t healthy to be alone in my basement apartment tooooooo often. 

I wish I could pull off that haircut.

 

Speaking of running club, I did my first Serpentine Wednesday night run, and got my ass handed to me. I went out with the 7:30 pace group, and they went a lot faster than that. Three super-speedy girls let the pack (I pretended it was A.T., R.Z., and V.M. to inspire myself). It took everything I could do to stay up with them for the entire 7.2 miles through Hyde, Green, and Regent parks. Thank god for stop lights or I would have been lost in Kensington somewhere. 

So good news, our visit in January is looking more and more likely. Mark your calendars! I would freaking love to be there for the Kaiser SF Half on Super Bowl Sunday. Anyone else racing? We might be able to talk Dave into a carpool again, he drops off RIGHT at the start so no pre-race parking stress and more sleep.

Running Update

Oh hello lats, where have you been, oh and triceps too. I've missed you both......

I know the title of this blog entry is Running Update, but I have actually been swimming one hell of a lot. I swim at the Queen Mother Sports Center just down the street from my house. It costs 1.85 GBP each time I swim (cheap). The pool area is brightly lit with huge, high windows so I pretend I am getting some sun when I swim - which I am not. I have a few "friends" I swim with, in particular a cool Irish dude and an Australian. I would talk to them more at the pool but I get cold VERY easily so they probably think I am a stuck-up American because I'm not more chatty. In any case, my swimming is going really well. Too bad it is the middle of winter without a race in sight. Dammit.


My barefoot running career ended up being an utter failure. I aggravated my plantar fasciitis by going out too far and too fast on my first run in my new barefoot shoes. Then, every time I wore the damn things, the pain came back - even if I was just walking. Anyone want a pair of "barefoot running" shoes, CHEAP and barely worn?

So I am taping my foot, as shown in the example below. I have had the dreaded plantar fasciitis before, but last time I had it for about 6 MONTHS. This taping method woks really well for me. I also really back off on the running, and ice several times per day.

Not my actual foot.......

Here is my foot with the giant, gross blister I got from the tape. I cannot win. At least my foot feels pretty good now, aside from the blister.

Ew.

Working part time, you would think I would be really fast right now. Not so much. In truth, I enjoy walking around so much, sometimes running is just not going to happen because my legs are too tired. I am only running two to three times per week, and rarely more than 5 to 7 miles. Generally, my routes are flat - I am in London after all. I have a feeling I have gotten pretty slow. There aren't a whole lot of races in the winter so I haven't really tested myself. I need to plan for some spring races, preferably trail runs, but I'll take anything. In any case, I am going to run with the Serpentine Running Club tomorrow night for the weekly Wednesday Run. Gulp, we'll see how I do. I need to hook up with D.L. and run with him, but he is so freaking fast I'd be left in the dust.

Today I went to St. Paul's Cathedral for a guided tour. It was cool, but Westminster is cooler because there is more history to it. Here is a picture I took from the front stairs of the cathedral on my way out, I thought it looked very Londonish.

Hey hey, I'm in London.

Three Things I Love - Christmas Gifts for the Ladies Y'all

I have a very pared down London wardrobe. You people would be shocked. There are just a few items in my closet, a few shelves of sweaters, and a drawer of socks and undies. That is pretty much it. Now - I work from home, so I realize this reality would not be true otherwise.....

For any dude looking for something cool and different for their wife/girlfriend/sister, there are a few things that I have found to be invaluable while traveling and living over here.

La Canadienne Boots - Dave got me these last year for Christmas from Zappos. They have aged so well, they look brand new and I wear them ALL the time. They have a perfect kitten heel (a must in London for all the walking and cobbled streets) and enough stretch for my very unsexy, meaty calves. There is no break-in period, they are instantly comfy. Note that they do run about a half size too big. I know, it is a bit of a shocking price-tag, but when you calculate that you will have these babies for 5 years, it really isn't so bad. Besides, it is nice to know they aren't some made in China plastic piece of shit that will be in the landfill in a few months because they are falling apart.
 

Downieville Snap Jacket - Athleta has the greatest stuff ever! If it weren't so GD expensive (and if I didn't live in London where athletic-wear-as-normal-clothing is VERY frowned upon), my entire wardrobe would be from that company. I got this jacket for $65 at the end of winter last year. I wasn't sure about it at first. I got it in the spring after all, and almost returned it. However, this jacket is the shit here in London. It is much much cuter than the picture shows and has a great fit and super-cool shape. I feel very sexy wearing it - as sexy as one can feel in a down puffy jacket. The material is water resistant, really repels dirt (especially around the arms where my jackets tend to get dirty), and the coat is SO warm. I wouldn't ski in the thing, unless it was perfect spring skiing, but it is great overall jacket!

Countourwear Hoodie Wrap Dress - I have the dress in XS black and it isn't quite as short as it looks on the model in the photo (I put in the picture of the white dress because you can see what it looks like a little better). It fits like a dream. I take it everywhere I travel. I can crumple it up in a ball in the bottom of my bag, and yet it looks amazing when I put it on. The top part around your shoulders can be worn all sorts of different ways, I tend to wear it as a simple cowl-neck with some bright tights and black boots - and viola I am set for a night in Paris. So you all know, these dresses are sewn locally in South SF. A friend of mine is one of the owners of the company, but this is not just a shameless plug. I will be ordering another dress in "wine" for summer.

We had a great weekend and stayed local. We finally went to 40 Maltby - pigs brain and chickpeas, not kidding at all and it was really good. We also saw New Order with the very handsome J.S. OMG I have never been in such cramped quarters with so many gay men, and that is saying a lot given that we are from the Bay Area. Today we went to the Columbia Flower Market (cool but crowded) and the Porchester Spa. And by "spa" we are talking about a rather Vigo-Mortneson-in-Eastern-Promises spa. Lots of sweat and steam rooms and half naked people that you don't want to see half naked. But hey, it was WARM and entry cost only $13 with our Westminster Resident Card, so who am I to complain. We will be regulars for sure.

Weekend with the Boys - This is going to leave a mark.....

J.S. and J.M. arrived in London on Thursday, and our weekend started then with catching up, dinner, and drinks out.  For those who don’t know, we partied down with J.M.’s wife in Madrid a few weeks ago.

Look at the cute gay couple, oh wait......

On Friday we lunched at Borough Market and wandered the city since it was a very nice day. Stupidly, we ended up over near the Christmas Nightmare that is Harrods in December. Eight million frantic, foaming at the mouth shoppers – kill me now. We actually braved the crowds, went into Harrods, and tried to visit the infamous Green Man Pub in the basement. BUT IT WAS CLOSED, tragedy. We managed to find another pub instead and ended up having dinner with J.C. and R.C. at Barrica.

Borough Market - if I could hug you and your delish items, I would.

Playing tourist.

At the pub, 2 champagnes into the day for me. I am crazy.

Saturday was a long day for the boys. We all went to a West Ham football game in the afternoon. Then I ditched them so they could attend a Cathedral (heavy metal not church) concert in the evening. After the concert, I got reports of an unsuccessful attempt at clubbing. The boys were NOT dressed appropriately for clubbing having just been to a Cathedral concert. Therefore, they were denied at the door. Douches.

Good start to the day at the bar.

Pre-game at the bar at West Ham.

Jeff loves that crap music.

On Sunday J.S. left and we accompanied J.S. on a quick overnight trip to Amsterdam. The weather held out generally, and while cold, it was a nice trip. Though J.M.’s nickname at our house is “peer-pressure-J.M.”, we were generally very well behaved.  We ate well, shopped, relaxed, got massages, and drank what was probably too much champagne – if that is possible. We stayed at the Hotel View, which was nice but I like The Collector better (despite its distance from the city center). Man the shopping in Amsterdam is the coolest – not the main street or the malls, but all the side boutiques and tiny shoe stores.

Spoiling ourselves at dinner.

My hunkie dates for Amdam.

We are lying low this week and recovering from the weekend for sure. In other news, this is my last week of German class. I still feel like a five-year-old child in there. I am flummoxed and normally speechless, but I am definitely starting up again in 2012. I have verb conjugation down (well, in the present tense). I will be doing lots and lots of vocabulary flash cards and exercises over the next few weeks……again, feeling like a child.

Love and miss everyone so freaking much. I am especially sad to be missing all the xmas parties this year, boo hooo! Have a drink for us and we'll do the same here. xoxoxo

Friendly Little Lisbon (Country #9)

Well once again, after a rough start (British Airways cancelled our flight the day before) we had an amazing trip. Lisbon, Portugal would not have been high on our list of cities to visit were we not living in London, which is a mere $100 and 2-hour flight away from this historic, SUNNY city. Remember my friends, at one point Portugal ruled the seas and their sailors “discovered” all sorts of new sea routes and lands. At one time, they controlled half of South America and parts of Africa and India. It wasn’t until 1988 that Portugal finally gave control of Macau over to China, crazy. Prior to all this exploring and conquering, Portugal was under the rule of the Celts, the Romans, and then the Moors. Thus, there is some cool historic crap in this town.

I couldn’t help but feel comfortable in Lisbon. There was something familiar about the place. It reminded me of a combination of San Francisco (on a warm day and WTF there is  a mini Golden Gate Bridge as shown in the collage above), Naples (but cleaner), San Diego (mellow vibe and waterfront), and Capri (hills and red tile roofs). Perhaps it was the gorgeous topography with green hills and blue Taugus River, or the low crime rate, or historic castles, or the blast of vitamin D to my system – but I liked this place. I’ll just give you a few highlights......

Look - it's Dave. He is at Vasca Da Gama's tomb in this last one.

Hotel: We stayed at a place called The House, which I found at Trip Advisor (of course). It is a small, locally owned hotel with just a few rooms. We immediately got upgraded upon arrival. There is a rooftop patio overlooking the entire city - with an honor bar. We spent a good bit of time up there. The staff was just outstanding, and I think Dave had a crush on one of them. They recommended local bars and restaurants, made us dinner reservations, gave us directions and advice, and the owner even had breakfast with us one morning and told us about the history of the building.

Taking a break on the rooftop at the hotel.

Cool Lisbon/Belem Stuff: The Moorish castle and churches in Lisbon, the CATHEDRAL in Belem, and the museums and monuments in Belem were all super cool. Pictures speak louder than words.

 

Monastery cloister in Belem.

San Jeronimo Church.

Monument to explorers, and Dave.

Belem tower.

At the castle.

So freakin cool

Thanksgiving Dinner at Cervejeria Ramiro: This seafood restaurant was a haul from our hotel but WORTH it. There was zero English anywhere, oh mother we are in trouble. Luckily, the family sitting next to us saw us struggling. Dad spoke English and basically proceeded to order us all the best stuff on the menu, including barnacles and steak sandwiches for dessert – apparently that is a big thing there, steak for dessert.

Dave is so excited!

Sintra: We took the 30 minute train to Sintra and checked out the Moorish castle, gardens, and palace. We decided to hike up to the castle (shocker) and met an Aussie from San Jose along the way – small world. 

Dave thinks he's the Pope, or at least the queen.

At the castle, lots of climbing.

So stinking sweet.

 
Cascais: From Sintra, we took a bus to Cascais (why does mass transit rock in every European country, I love it), which is a small coastal town that is mobbed with tourists in the summer. We walked around, enjoyed the beach, and had more seafood for dinner. It was a nice day-trip for sure.

Saturday Dinner at Chao de Pedra: This tiny restaurant was recommended to us by our hotel, which generally makes me nervous. However, from the second we walked in I knew we made the right decision. It was crowded with locals, all cave-like and cozy, and none of the wines on the menu was more than $14. We had a cheese and pear appy, divine pork cheeks and beef for a main course, chocolate for dessert, along with a bottle of wine, and the entire bill was less than $40. 

Portuguese Champers at the Four Seasons: It had to be done. No description necessary, it was delightful……and very hot waiters I might add.

Favorite Oh Shit Moment: On the first day, we were looking for a place to have lunch. We got our courage up and tried to walk into a tiny, buzzing local place. And after several tries to open the door (pushing, pulling, looking for a latch, trying the other door), everyone was staring at us and we were so embarrassed that we walked away. Fun.

While the trip was cool - to be completely fair, we probably spent one day too many in Lisbon. Our flight got rescheduled for an early morning departure, rather than our original evening departure - so we had a full extra day that I hadn’t planned on. In hindsight, I would have scheduled another day trip in the area or something. I think we will go back to Portugal, perhaps to the coastal towns or the Port region next time though.

It Must Be Love

Dear London,

Why do you make me love you so much? I had a perfectly happy, quiet little life in Palo Alto until you came along…... 

This was the first weekend we went really “out”. We had a group so you can be more courageous and go into places that I might normally be too intimidated to go to. On Friday, J.S. (a friend who just moved here from the Bay Area), D.C. (a friend from the good old HMH days), and the Ashtons all went out to a tapas dinner at Barrica - yum. Then, we were off to the fabulously cool basement bar - The London Cocktail Club. The music there was super badass, but no dance floor. So we were off to the Notting Hill Arts Club to get our dance on. It was funk night, N.M. – you would have LOVED the old-school DJ! Apparently, it might have also been gay night……but it can be hard to tell because men in London dress so cool generally. Are you gay or hip, I am just not sure. Dave didn’t know if this one dude was starting a fight with him or hitting on him. Sorry, no photos of our exploits.

The quote of the night from our cabbie to D.C., “I don’t allow George Michael to be played in my cab.” Don’t ask me why D.C. was playing the song Teacher on his Iphone. At least the cabbie didn’t stop the cab and throw us out. 

Saturday was a recovery day…….nothing to report here. Though I did volunteer at a cross country race at the Hampstead Heath, which is just a gorgeous place with views down over the entire city. I will be running there soon and often. It makes me miss the hills of the Bay Area (and Rancho, sniff sniff). We also stumbled upon the Camden Town Markets. While a cool area, it is generally a bunch of trinkety junk on sale at the market. Still, it was worth a visit and I am sure we’ll go back and explore Camden further another day (preferably while not hung over).

On Sunday we had to redeem ourselves. We woke up and went over to the Shoreditch area and Spitalfields Market. The market itself was nothing to write home about. The real action was in the neighborhoods surrounding the market. It was like a multicultural/fashionable giant street fair – imagine Cuban, Moroccan, Burmese, Spanish, Indian, Ethiopian, Lebanese, and Mexican food stands next to the coolest vintage shops, tiny artist galleries, clothing designer shops, Halal butchers, record shops, and bagel bakeries. We wandered for hours!

Dave had Cuban food for lunch.

I am not sure what game this is but it was being played in the street here at the market.

A million small businesses with tiny storefronts.

 

My favorite store! It makes me wish I had brought my sewing machine with me to London.

This photo is for you Kait.

This store housed 30+ small designers and their clothing.

More vintage than you can imagine, but you can't take photos. I got yelled at for snapping this one.

Yeah dudes, the world is not your toilet.

The 99% movement should come on over here to London where they would be considered conservative.

After all that walking, we decided Champagne was necessary – why? Well why not? First stop, St. Pancras Champagne Bar, which is in the giant St. Pancras train station. Not exactly what we were looking for, but what the hell.

 

Second stop, the Library at the Lanesborough. Oh yes!!!! This a Swanky Mc Swank hotel that has an old fashioned Britishy feel. Lots of dark leather, big comfy chairs, old books, a big fire – so nice! Check out the photos at the link above. We will be back there sometime very soon.

 

Well we are stoked for Portugal this weekend. I have been practicing my Portuguese and I am ready! After that, we are in the lead up to Christmas in Austria and New Years in Scotland. Last night we were trying to plan the next few months. Dave REALLY wants to go to Iceland this winter for the aurora borealis, but we also need to get to the states and spend some time there. Ugh too much to fit in! Later in 2012, we are hoping to ride the Camino De Santiago (maybe in May) and go to Palio in Siena in June/July. Anyone want to join?!?!?!

This one is for the gorgeous force that is Mrs. T.D. I saw the photo on Facebook or something. Wouldn’t it just complete your bicycle bathroom!

T.D. I expect to see this at the next book club meeting I attend at your house.